Detective who accused Hancock of sexual harassment executed search warrant on wrong house

DENVER -- A Denver police detective who accused Mayor Michael Hancock of sending inappropriate text messages in 2012 is now in trouble herself and will serve a four-day suspension

Det. Leslie Branch-Wise will serve the suspension for executing a search warrant on the wrong house in December 2017.

The detective was investigating a theft case and was looking for the suspect at a Green Valley Ranch home the suspect no longer rented. Police broke into the home destroying the front door and several bedroom doors only to later realize the suspect no longer lived there.

"She made incorrect assumptions which resulted in an egregious home invasion that was clearly avoidable," her discipline letter states.

Det. Branch-Wise has ten days to appeal her suspension. If she doesn't, she will serve her suspension July 29 - Aug. 1.

Branch-wise won a $75,000 settlement in 2013 because of allegations of sexual harassment from a Mayor’s aide at the time, who was fired as a result.

It wasn’t until earlier this year she that she came forward about suggestive text messages the mayor sent her while she served on his security detail in 2012.

Hancock has apologized to Branch-Wise as well as his family and the city but the mayor insisted it was not sexual harassment.